Jeffrey Westman, 50, of Sebastopol has been hired to lead the organization, which promotes organic agriculture in Marin by expanding outreach to farmers and ranchers who are interested in switching from traditional farming.

"It's an organization that has inspired me for many years," Westman said. "They have done good work that I admire. The goal was to make Marin County organic and they have done that."

The nonprofit organization — formed in 2001 — has helped push the organic acreage in Marin County from 200 to more than 30,000 acres. Marin Organic has about 40 member businesses.

While he will continue to work with ranchers to make the transition from traditional to organic farming, he will also focus on maintaining sustainable operations — maintaining the conditions, he said, under which farms and nature exist in productive harmony.

For the past year, Westman has been operating Grow Kitchen, a cooking school in Sebastopol.

Westman has been an organic farmer himself, reviving a potato farm in Sweden. He has also led a large company, Yahoo Scandinavia, and has helped nonprofits grow such as California FarmLink and Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm.

"Jeffrey brings to Marin Organic the experience, vision and energy we need now to realize our strategic plans and grow," said Peg Smith of Cowgirl Creamery and Marin Organic board president.

Westman replaces Helge Hellberg, who served as the executive director of Marin Organic from 2004 to 2011. In that time he raised the profile of the organization, bringing in Prince Charles for a tour of Marin organic farms in 2005 and drawing international attention to the organic food movement.